The Independent
by Jack Holmes
Summary: A young tom by the name of Rusty is given the chance to leave the independent series and join Thunderclan as part of the Warriors Wrestling Federation. Join him on his journey to achieve reverence in the tough world of the WWF. ON HAITUS
1. Chapter 1

**Starting off, thank you for being crazy enough to try this…**_**unique **_**crossover. Yeah, pro wrestling and a fantasy book series about feral cats don't seem like an ideal crossover. But that just makes me more determined to try this out. So without further ado, I give you the first ever attempt at a pro wrestling and **_**Warriors **_**crossover. **_**The Independent. **_

_**Chapter 1: The Circuit**_

"_**Break it up! Break it up!" the referee yelled as he tried to separate two wrestlers. One of the wrestlers, a large black tabby, kept ignoring the referee's orders and kept pummeling his smaller, orange-haired opponent in the corner, landing blow after blow on the young tabby's skull. Finally, after countless blows and the referee threatening to disqualify him, the huge cat backed down. The crowd cheered on the black cat, which cockily gestured toward his downed opponent and expected the referee to stop the match and declare him the winner. The crowd cheered him on, as all the cats had bet their hard-earned money on the black cat to win to. After all, he was the 50 to 1 odds on favorite. He was 4 seasons old and extremely strong. In everyone's mind, the black cat had all but won this match, even before it started. **_

_**His opponent was a small, frail orange colored tabby. He was barely 6 moons old and was currently bleeding tremendously from his skull, courtesy of his larger opponent. He had taken a beating in this match, yet his opponent had never gotten more than a count of 1 before the tabby kicked out. The black tabby even hit his finisher and couldn't get the pin fall, which had leaded to the frustrated pounding in the corner on the lowest turnbuckle.**_

_**The referee consulted the orange cat about throwing in the towel but the cat shook his head as he using the turnbuckle to help himself up. He put his back on the turnbuckle, turning his bloodied face to look at his opponent. To the black cat's surprise…and rage, the small orange cat had a look of defiance on his face and with one hand motioned his opponent to come at him. The audience laughed and mocked him for his apparent stupidity with one fan throwing a empty bottle at him, which shattered on the turnbuckle. But the small tabby never even blinked as the referee backed out the way so that the black cat could finish what he started.**_

_**The black cat let out a deranged yell as he charged across the ring at full speed, looking to crush the smaller cat under his large frame. Suddenly, at the last second, the orange cat rolled out of the way, doing a somersault under tabby's stretched out arms. The black cat slammed straight into the turnbuckle at such speed that the audience thought they heard a loud "crack" as the tabby immediately covered his ribs with both arms and turn around to exact revenge on his opponent for the teeth gnashing pain he felt, only to suddenly be knocked out by a powerful super-kick right under his jaw. **_

_**The crowd, extremely loud and chaotic a second before, immediately fell silent in shock as the black cat slumped onto his back and didn't move. The orange cat either went for the pin or just simply collapsed from exhaustion onto his opponent. The referee, who was also standing in shock, shook himself like he had just waked up from a deep sleep and counted. **_

_** 1…2…3**_

_** The crowd was absolutely silent in shock as the orange cat sluggishly hauled himself to his feet and let the referee raise his hand in victory. The crowd remained silent. Until, some cat started to slowly clap. Slowly, others began to join him and before long the entire room was filled with the sound of clapping. The young cat collapsed then rolled under the top rope and slowly walked to through the crowd as they continued to clap. The young tom stopped as he started to stare at the money holder as if he was not going to hand his winnings, then he reached into the money-holder's pocket and took his winnings plus the bonus of being the underdog. The young tom his orange fur dimly glowing in the weak light, wearily walked his way to the bathroom to change out of his tights.**_

_** The crowd then slowly shuffled out of room, some sullen by the loss of their money, other still memorized by how powerful that super-kick was. In less than 5 minutes, almost everyone had left the room, just a few cats that were trying to sleep off all of that alcohol that they had consumed. Only a blue she-cat with a hint of silver on her muzzle was still there. She had watched the match and was impressed with the young orange tom. He had shown remarkable toughness and cunning despite his size and age. The she-cat stared thoughtfully at the bathroom where the orange tom had disappeared too. She walked over to the counter and ask the bartender when the orange tom was going to appear again**_

"_**He takes wrestles in another quarter-moon," the heavy white tom said. "Why? Do you what to place a bet on him?"**_

_**The blue-she cat smiled slightly, and then looked up at the stars through one of the holes in the roof. "Yes, something like that."**_

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

**Well, what do you guys think? I think that my writing is complete and total crap, but I'm my biggest critic. And just for notice, this will be my shortest chapter in the series. Can you guys please send me reviews and let me know how you feel about this story. Thanks!**

**-Jack Holmes**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey guys it's Jack Holmes here but you already knew that didn't you? I wrote this during a 16+ hour car ride to North Carolina. I was also writing this while watching/listening to Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows so if the story is a little weird, I am sorry. Now, in this chapter we get to meet some very significant characters. To the story we go! (Note, Rusty is actually 1 year old, unlike in the books, which he is 6 moons old. Sorry)**_

_**998…999…1,000. There, that should keep us well-fed, not that Smudge needs to eat more than he already does. **_**A grin slowly appeared on Rusty's muzzle as he counted the winnings from the previous night. Rusty stood up, the chair letting out a screech that echoed thorough out the small wood house. Rusty then put his winnings in a small tin can and place in in the cupboard. The orange cat's walk was still gimpy from the match. He had a few cuts on this forehead, multiple bruises, and probably some cracked ribs. Thankfully, there was 2 weeks before his next match and his opponent wasn't as big and dominated as his last one. He made a mental note to finish the match quickly and not to take any blows to the head or chest. **

** Rusty's ear twitched as he heard the door open and heavy steps that made the wood squeal. Rusty didn't bother to turn around because he only knew one person that could possibly make that wood squeak like that. The heavy black and white tom stepped into the room, grocery bag in hand and a weary smile on his face.**

"**Hey Rusty, guess what I got." Smudge said excitedly as he plopped down the bag on the wooden table.**

"**Let me guess: 6 cans of mouse meat, 4 gallons of milk, and something that you tried to surprise me with like…ice cream?" Rusty guessed with a smile.**

**Smudge looked stunned "oh…uh…how did you know?"**

**Rusty mockingly puffed out his chest and let a smirk. "Thanks to my superior brain power and a unique array of methods that involves looking at pieces of paper left lying countertops. **

"**Oh…wait, what?" Smudge asked, a confused look appearing on his face.**

"**I looked at you grocery list this morning," Rusty replied, a sheepish grin replacing the smirk on his face. "You really should keep track of that thing, someone could see it and trick you into thinking they know everything."**

**The confused look on Smudge's face disappeared and was replaced with a look of embarrassment. "Yeah not my smoothest move…but what do you think? About the food, I mean."**

**Rusty tried—unsuccessfully—to hold back a grin and said "that's really good but, once you see what I got, you and I will be dinning a little finer from now on.."**

**Smudge froze and stared at Rusty like his life depended on it. "You didn't…"**

"**I did"**

**Smudge, moving quicker than Rusty had ever seen before, then dashed around the table, ripped open the cupboard, grabbed the can and peeked inside. **

"**Yes! Heck yes! WOOO! Rusty this is…Yes!" Smudge yelled at the top of his lungs while jumping up and down in glee, making the whole house shake. Smudge then grabbed Rusty and gave him a massive hug, only letting go when Rusty yelped in pain. "How the heck did you do it! If only if I had been there to see it! Was it that super-kick of yours? That would have been awesome, like …BANG! Smudge then tried to do a super-kick of his own, only to slip and ungracefully fall on his face with a massive 'THUD'. **

**Rusty then gimped over to Smudge's side, still hurting from that massive hug of his, concern radiating from his eyes.**

"**Smudge! Are you alright?" asked Rusty. **

**Smudge barely lifted his head, his eye's glazed over. "I'm…sleepy" The black and white tom said wearily. And with that, Smudge fell asleep right on the spot.**

**Rusty stared at him with disbelief showing in his gaze as Smudge's breath became slow and more synchronized. Rusty stared for a little longer, than burst out in a fit of laughter. After that, Rusty then got up and got a blanket off the couch. He then covered Smudge with the blanket, knowing that the sleeping tom will not wake up until morning. After that Rusty then went up the stairs and into his room, where he immediately fell on his bed and closed his eyes. He quickly drifted off, the sounds of the city the last thing he remembered.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_**Rusty looked at the ring in awe, as the cats around him where going crazy as they watched the two cats wrestle in the ring, which was in a huge arena. One wrestler was a large, muscular orange tom while the other was a short, shout brown tom. The two cats were exchanging fists in the ring. The orange cat then began to gain the upper hand, his barrage of fists becoming quicker and quicker with every blow. Finally, the orange tom lifted the brown tom up and slammed him down on his back. The orange cat then began to clap his hands together and put his hand by his ear, which brought massive cheers from the cats at in the arena. The orange tom then ran, bounced off the ropes, jumped up in the air and delivered a massive leg-drop on the smaller tom. The orange cat then hooked his leg and the referee counted.**_

_**1…2…3! At three the crowd went nuts, cheering so loud that Rusty felt like he could go deaf. The announcer, his voice thundering thru the arena, then said. "The winner by pin fall and STILL WWF champion. THUNDER!" As the orange tom—Thunder—celebrated, three other cats including brown tom that lost, slid into the ring. The crowd was then silent, not knowing what these cats were going to do with Thunder. The four cats stared either other down for a little bit. And then, the brown cat slowly walked up to Thunder until he stood face to face. The two cats stared at each other for a little bit, before the brown cat slowly reached over and grabbed Thunder's arm and then lifted up in the air. The crowd then exploded in the loudest pop yet as the two cats then hugged in the ring. The other two cats joined them to form one big group hug, while under a banner that read in big, golden letters: WWF. **_

_**The picture than began to slowly fade to white and was replaced with a lushes green grass. Rusty realized that he was at the city park where is play as a kit as his older sister watched from a distance. Rusty watched himself play in the grass and then stop as a tortoiseshell she-cat, the same age as him at the time which was 4 moons, nervously walked toward him. Rusty kept staring at the she-cat, waiting for to say want she wanted.**_

"_**Um…," The tortoiseshell started nervously as she searched for the right words. "do you want to play?"**_

_**As soon as Rusty opened his mouth to reply, his older sister yelled for him. "Rusty! It's time to go home." His sister then started to walk away, not waiting for him.**_

_**Rusty glanced at the she-cat, pity in his eyes. "Sorry," He said. "I have to go." And without giving the tortoiseshell a chance to reply, Rusty dashed off at full speed to catch up to his sister. **_

_**His sister glanced back at the she-cat he left in the dust just moments ago as he caught up. "What did she want?"**_

'_**She wanted to play." Rusty replied, once again glancing back at the dejected she-cat. "can you wait for one second?" **_

_**This sister followed his gaze and rolled her eyes. "O.K., make it quick."**_

_**Rusty then ran back to the tortoiseshell that was walking in the opposite direction, dejected. He spun her around and, without thinking, planted a kiss right on her lips. Rusty pressed for only a second, then spun around and dashed off toward his sister, leaving the stunned she-cat behind.**_

_**His sister stood there with amusement brimming in her eyes. "That was an interesting way of handling the situation," Rusty didn't reply, as he was too out of breath from running back and forth so quickly. "You keep doing that, you'll end up being a real heart break kid, you know that right?" His sister said, still amused.**_

_**Rusty gave one more glance back at the she-cat he had left behind. She was skipping away with a definite bounce in her step.**_

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

**Rusty was in the middle of the empty ring, looking around the equally empty room. It had been one week his fight and he was itching to get back in the ring again. Especially after the dreams he had. The second dream was a memory of his kit hood he knew that. But that first dream puzzled him. Rusty knew it wasn't a memory that was for sure. Yet it was far too real for it to have been just a dream. That logo…WWF…Rusty was sure that he had seen it before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Then it hit him. Literally.**

**While Rusty was thinking about what his dreams were that he hadn't noticed that a cat had gotten into the ring and sneaked up behind, then punched him right in the head from behind. Rusty hit the mat face first and purposely went limp. He heard the cat crouch down on beside him to see if he was still awake. It was at that moment that Rusty launched himself up and into his attacker. This attacker had been caught by surprised but his big frame prevented Rusty from gaining too much of an advantage. The launching instead pushed his opponent back into a turnbuckle. Rusty wasted no time as he ran full on into the cat, trying to squash him between the turnbuckle and Rusty. But once again, his opponent's larger frame saved him as the ram did nothing to his attacker. Rusty then decided to end it quickly and went for the super-kick but the larger cat was faster than Rusty gave him credit for. He blocked the super-kick with his arms and then gave him a big clothesline. Rusty popped back up immediately after the clothesline, which his attacker didn't expect and it cost him dearly. Rusty had positioned himself perfectly for the super-kick and this time he didn't miss his attacker couldn't block sound of Rusty's boot hitting his attacker's chin was like music to Rusty's ears.. His attacker was instantly on his back, reeling from the super-kick. **

**Rusty also fell on the mat, staring blankly at the roof. He was also reeling from that clothesline. Rusty then let out a little grin, that super-kick never failed him. He laid there in silence before hearing the other cat stir. Rusty sat up and stared at attacker in curiosity and shock. Out of all the cats that he had hit the super-kick with, that cat had by far been the quickest to wake up. Rusty finally got a chance to look at his opponent. **

**He was dressed in a shirt that was the same color as his pelt and had a pair of jeans. He was a shaggy, long-haired, gray-colored tom with large, powerful shoulders despite being the same age as him. He had a large wide head and big yellow eyes. Now that Rusty thought about it, everything about this cat seemed big. The large gray tom sat up, rubbing his chin where Rusty's foot had hit him. Rusty slowly stood up and lined up another super-kick just in case the tom wanted to keep going. But to Rusty's surprise, the muscular gray tom looked up at Rusty with a mix of admiration, embarrassment, and guilt in his slightly-glazed eyes.**

"**Wow," the gray tom started, still rubbing his chin. "That was one heck of a kick that you gave me. You put up more than a fight than I expected." The gray tom flashed an easy smile at Rusty.**

**Rusty did not relax despite the tom's apparent lack of hostility. "I'll kick you with it again if I have to." Rusty threaten, shifting his weight to his back foot which he always did before his super-kick.**

**The tom didn't seem bothered by Rusty's threat and continued to smile. "You don't fight like an indie though, he said. "You actually seem to think before you wrestle; although I think you did miss a couple of opportunities for like a DDT or a flying shoulder blast. Things like that mostly."**

**Rusty stared at the tom, confused by some of the words he used. An **_**Indie? DDT? Flying shoulder what? What in the heck is this cat talking about?**_

**The large gray tom saw his expression change and sighed. "Tell you what," the tom said. "You help me up and I'll explain what all of those mean." He let loose another smile and continued. "I'm still a little woozy from that kick of yours. What, did you load your boot with a brick or something?" The Tom let out a little laugh and then offered his hand so that Rusty could help him up.**

**Rusty didn't move at first, then he slowly took the hand and pulled him up which wasn't easy. The second the gray tom made it to his feet he immediately fell backwards onto the rope behind him. Rusty jumped back, still expecting some sort of trick. **

"**You know that if I want you to attack you I would have done it while you were helping me up right? Not that I'm in any state to start fighting again or anything" the gray tom stated half-amused, half annoyed. He then stuck out his hand. "My name is Graypaw by the way, what's your name?"**

_**Graypaw? That's a strange name.**_** Rusty thought. Rusty slowly reached out and shook his hand. "My name's Rusty" He replied. **

**Graypaw saw the confused look on his face and said. "Yeah, I now it's not a common name around here but here I come from names like mine are common."**

_**Where I come from? **_**Rusty thought, curiosity beginning to grow inside of him. "And where do you come from," Rusty asked with all traces of his original hostilities gone. "Are you part of an Independent circuit somewhere else?"**

"**Am I an Indy? Heck no! I'm part of the Warriors Wrestling Federation or the WWF for short. I'm a member of Thunderclan. I'm training to be a warrior." Graypaw told him, while he puffed out his chest and struck a pose. He glanced back at Rusty and saw the look of confusion on his face. "Oh right, I still have to explain what an Indie is. An Indy is what we Clan cats call the wrestlers here in the city or on the independent circuit. Indies have a bad reputation of being soft, lazy, arrogant, you know, all the things that you don't want in a wrestler," He nodded his head toward Rusty. "You're an Indy but so far I have to say that you haven't shown any of those qualities…so far." Graypaw let out a grin, which he seemed to do a lot. **

_**Thunderclan? **_**But as Rusty opened his mouth to ask Graypaw more about the WWF when all of a sudden, the door that connected the bar to the empty room burst opened and two cats cat walked into the room.**

**Graypaw turned to look at the cats then whipped his head back at Rusty, fear and embarrassment showing in his eyes. "This is bad," he whispered. "This is really bad!"**

**Rusty felt the hair on his pelt begin to bristle as the two cats spotted him and Graypaw and began to walk towards them. One of the cats was a huge golden brown tabby who was even bigger than Graypaw. He had green eyes and his fur was thicker around his neck than other cats that Rusty had seen. He was also wearing the same t-shirt as Graypaw with jeans. His companion was a smaller, older blue-colored she-cat with gray-hairs starting to form around her muzzle. She was wearing the same clothes as her companion but hers' were noticeable tighter than her tom counter-part.**

**Graypaw stopped leaning on the ropes and stood up straight, and after elbowing Rusty in the arm, Rusty stood up straight as well. The two cats slid into the ring and stood just a few feet away.**

"**What's going on here Graypaw?" asked the blue she-cat as her ice-blue eyes stared at the two nervous toms. **

"**No—Nothing really Bluestar," Graypaw stammered. "Just talking to one of the locals, that's all."**

"**Just talking huh," Bluestar said, obviously not buying it. "Well, did you do anything before you started talking?" She pointed to her chin.**

**Rusty glanced at Graypaw's chin and realized that his boot had left a small mark on his chin. Graypaw flushed under his fur as he realized he was caught between a rock and a hard place.**

"**O.K.," Graypaw started out. "I kind of jumped him from behind."**

**Bluestar still looked skeptical. "Kind of?" **

"**Ok, I did jump him," Graypaw admitted. "I had some new moves that Lionheart taught me that I wanted to try on a live opponent and I figure that this cat, being just an independent and all, would be easy." **

**Rusty shot Graypaw a furious glare.**_** Just an independent! **_** Rusty thought indignantly. **_**I almost took his head off! **_

**This time the golden tabby spoke. "Just because you are excited to use some new moves that I taught you doesn't mean that you and jump cats trying to make them fight you. And besides," the tom looked at the mark on Graypaw's chin. "It looks like he fought harder than you thought." **

**Graypaw's ears flatten with embarrassment. "Yeah…He put up a pretty good fight." He admitted.**

"**Pretty good! If it had been a real match, the referee could've counted to 10 before you even knew what was happening!" Rusty shocked himself by saying that and wished he hadn't when the blue she-cat—Bluestar—turned her icy blue stare to him.**

"**You did?" Bluestar asked, surprise in her tone. She turned back to Graypaw, interest gleaming in her eyes.**

**Graypaw nodded sheepishly. "That kick of his nearly took my head off."**

**Rusty expected the blue-gray she-cat to start lecturing the young cat about how cats like him were supposed to be easy to defeat and that he was an embarrassment to the WWF. But, surprisingly, Bluestar didn't do any of that. She just nodded her head slowly and said "Interesting". **

**After a few more moments of tense silence, Lionheart spoke. "Bluestar, he's an Indy. He just not cut out for the life of a Warrior. Just let him go home and prepare for his next match. We don't even know if he would want to join us."**

"**What! You're thinking of asking him to join the WWF?" Graypaw spoke the same question that came to Rusty's mind. Bluestar turned to Graypaw, whose eyes widen as he realized that he had just questioned the she-cat. But, surprising Rusty yet again, Bluestar didn't seem angry with him. **

"**Thunderclan to be precise." Bluestar admitted.**

"**But he's an Indy! Would the Clan even accept him?" Graypaw asked. He was silenced by a glare from the golden-tabby. Lionheart then turn to face Bluestar.**

"**He does have a point thought," Lionheart then faced Rusty. "If you do want to join Thunderclan, please understand that Bluestar is only considering training you. Even with training, it is not a sure thing that you could ever be a Warrior. The road would be a hard one. The fans would boo you, your opponents jeer you and not take you seriously, and even some of your own Clan mates would be less than courteous to you. Are you sure that you could handle that? You are use to a…comfortable life," Lionheart then turned back to Bluestar. "If you want him to join, you'll have to officially ask him." Lionheart was cautious with his tone, trying not to sound like her was ordering her around.**

**Bluestar glanced at Lionheart, giving a small nod, turn to face Rusty again. "Do you want to be part of the WWF? Do you want to join Thunderclan?"**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

_**I just realized that "The Fighter" by Gym Class Heroes is the PERFECT song to describe his story and the original Warriors story.**_

"_**Heart break kid?" "Super-kick" "The kick sounded like MUSIC to Rusty's ears as it hit his CHIN?" Wrestling fans are probably jumping up and down in front of their computer as they realize who it is.**_

_**Hopefully not in a public place. That would be awkward.**_

_**R&R**_

_**-Jack Holmes**_


End file.
